Letters to the Editor - The kind cops who helped us out in our hour of need

Published: 6 May, 2010

• ON bank holiday Sunday, we had had a wonderful but tiring day and decided to go to bed early.
My husband Jack came back from the toilet and reported the cistern was overflowing and the floor was already under two inches of water.
He got the ladder and climbed up to try to stop it but, like me, he is 86 and he has a heart condition and ought not to do this.
We phoned about eight plumbers but they were all on holiday.
I phoned a neighbour who gave me two further phone numbers and said that if all else failed the police might help.
In the end we had to phone the police.
They probably sensed that we were old and asked for our ages.
They gave us some more numbers but no luck.
At midnight the front door bell rang. It was the police asking if we had received any help.
They came into our flat and managed to stop the overflow and cleaned up the floor.
When they had finished, they declined a cup of tea and we had to press some chocolate on them.
The police have generally such a bad name that I feel this incident shows them in a very good light.
And we wish to thank these charming and helpful young policemen.
HANNE and JACK YATES
Address supplied, NW3